This is a list of terms used to describe game concepts. Use this as a reference in conjunction with unit tables and resource tables.

Units with an area of effect attack can hit more than one enemy unit in a wing per shot. “Attack AoE” is the radius (in Mm) within which additional units will get struck. Effective attack damage is reduced for units further from the targeted unit.

“From the point where the missile hit, out to 1/5 the area of effect radius, any ships in the area take full damage. After that, damage decreases at inverse-square rate. I.e., at 2/5th radius, ships take quarter damage; at 3/5th radius they take 1/9th damage, etc.”

The general resistance of a unit to being destroyed in combat. Armor is compared to attack damage during each combat round that a unit attacks another. Units are never “damaged” - they either survive an attack or are completely destroyed.

The strength of each individual attack that a unit performs per combat round. The combat equation values multiple low-damage attacks slightly higher than individual high damage attacks; a ship hit by 10 damage:10 attacks in a combat round has a higher chance of being destroyed than a ship hit by 1 damage:100 attack. This is offset by the fact that high-damage attacks are generally VERY high damage, e.g. the 960-damage HK missile used by the Typhon-class starcruiser. Each attack can only destroy a single unit unless it is an AoE attack, so a small wing of high-damage non-AoE unit will not quickly destroy a large wing of weak units.

Beam or cannon-type weapons. These are hitscan; they hit their target in the same combat round that they are fired. Direct attacks never miss.

Missiles take a few moments to reach their target. Missile attacks will miss if the missile gets to its maximum range without reaching its target; this can happen if the target is moving quickly relative to the attacker, or if the target wing is destroyed before the missile arrives. To offset this, units with missile attacks begin firing before their target is actually within range. Missile attacks can be intercepted by units with point defense.

An estimate of relative unit strength. This is not a guarantee of which unit will win in a fight, as multiple factors affect this.

Delta V is the highest speed at which ship wing can rise or sink through orbitals during combat. High delta V is desirable on ships that will be fighting against other ships or defenses that have a longer firing range than themselves, since it allows them to close the distance faster. Delta V is less important for ships that already have long attack ranges, like starfrigates. During battles, units with high delta V usually end up in combat before other unit types. Warphant transports land faster than Reliant transports because of their high delta V, which can be important when enemy player reinforcement fleets are en route.

For missile-equipped units, missile strength is the resistance of the unit's projectile to being destroyed by point defense. All missiles aimed at wing will be destroyed if the aggregate value of point defense in the target wing sufficiently outnumbers the number and strength of incoming missiles in each volley aimed at it. Otherwise, only some will be intercepted.

Units with point defense have the ability to destroy incoming missile attacks. Point defense strikes against missiles look like very-short-range direct attacks against the incoming missile icons. A ship can perform a point defense strike and fire its primary weapon during the same combat round. Basic jumpships, starfrigates, and high-tech starcruisers all have point defense systems of varying effectiveness. Point defense seems to prevent intercepted missiles from causing point defense damage. Point defense doesn't protect ships from AoE damage caused by missiles striking other ships in the same wing.

The distance that a ship can fire (in Mm). Ships that outrange planetary defenses may be able to destroy the defenses without risk of retaliation. In practice, some attackers (like jumpcruisers) will move into retaliation range even if they outrange defenses. In wing vs. wing combat, the wing with the longer range effectively gets “first strikes” and “parting strikes” against the shorter-ranged wing as the wings move in orbit relative to one another. Range has historically been a decisive factor in combat, although it is unclear whether this is still true in Era 3

Only imperial guard units have this trait. It modifies the planet's revolution index. adjustedRisk = (rebellion adjustment)^(numberOfGuardsOnPlanet/1000)

Only imperial guard units have this trait. It modifies the chance that a sector capital will secede. Secession adjustment from imperial guards stacks with the global 0.1 (90% reduction) modifier to secession rate imposed by the Law & Order doctrine. adjustedRisk = adjustmentValue^(numberOfGuardsOnPlanet/1000)

Unit speed represents many light-years a fleet of this unit can move in a watch. Mixed fleets move at the speed of the slowest unit.

Abbreviation for “tech level”

An inverse measurement of attrition. It is the number of cycles that it takes for a fleet or group of units or resources to be reduced by attrition to 50% of the initial count. A high half-life means low attrition and vice versa.

Work unit cost; the number of work units consumed directly by a structure to produce a unit or resource.

Supply-chain inclusive work unit cost. This is a measure of the total labor cost to your economy to build a unit or resource. It includes the WU cost of the unit, the WU cost to create the resources that go into the unit, and the WU cost of the resources needed to create those resources. It does not include the WU cost of consumer goods consumed by planetary population, since this is a factor of planetary tech level rather than of individual resource type. SCI WU cost is never shown in-game; it must be calculated by players.

Basic unit of collective ground unit strength. Ground forces = sum(attack value/100) for all ground units at a planet or in transports. Not a guarantee of which side will win a battle, as multiple factors affect this.

Kiloton. Basic unit of mass. Most resources weigh 1 kt/unit. Jumptransports carry 20kT/ship. Resources and units that weigh >20kT get split between multiple jumptransports.

Light-year. Basic unit of map distance.

Megameter. Basic unit of range; used to describe weapon range, attack diameter, and orbital height during combat.

Basic unit of strength for fleets and for the planetary defenses and ships stationed at a planet. Space forces = sum(attack value / 100) for all ships and planetary defenses in a fleet or at a planet. Not a guarantee of which side will win a battle, as multiple factors affect this.

Work unit. Basic unit of labor. All resources and units have a WU cost to produce. WU is assigned to structures as a % of total WU production.

Basic units of time.